Friday, March 25, 2011

A wide range of choices,,,

For next week's vote on where we poll we're getting an early start and doing something a little different. There are 18 states that we can poll where we a) haven't polled the 2012 election at all yet and b) don't have a poll coming next week already. So we're putting all of those out there as options and we'll do the top two. Voting's open until Monday afternoon. After we have our winners we'll take suggestions to get into the actual details of what to poll in those states. Have a good weekend!

I voted for Utah. I want to see how popular Orrin Hatch is with the general Republican electorate. His fate will likely be decided at the convention, but if he gets 40% of the vote than there will be a primary to replace him. Polls last year showed Bob Bennett was popular with most Republicans and would have probably won a primary but couldn't make it with the super-activists who show up at conventions. Is Hatch in the same situation? Also interesting to see how Jim Matheson would fare in a statewide race. Republicans will probably try to target him in redistricting, so he might want to run for senate if it looks like Hatch will be taken out by the Tea Party.

Also, how well liked is Huntsman? Does he have any home state support? Does he cut into Romney's support in Utah significantly?

And of course, maybe we'll finally find a state where Palin actually has a substantial lead on Obama.

"Curious to see what Illinoisans think of the bullet they dodged (that their neighbors didn't) by narrowly electing Quinn instead of Brady. They're like an island of sanity in the midwest now."

Bills are going to have to be paid sooner or later. The election of Quinn will only delay the coming cuts. Funny how everyone complains about cuts when the electorate should be mad that they were promised unsustainable programs in the first place. Illinois is heading toward tough times. Why drag out the inevitable?

Oklahoma pulling in second? Come on people vote for something interesting such as Kentucky, New Hampshire, or Washington for second place. We already know what's going to happen in Oklahoma in 2012. Has there ever been a doubt with that state?

Oklahoma would be interesting to see for several reasons. Yes, we know how it would go in a general election (big-time against Obama), but the GOP primary?

Huckabee lost to McCain here, but could Palin slip by for the lead in 2012? She's popular here. How would Romney do?

Also, in 2012, the only Democrat held seat (federal or state-wide) is the 2nd Congressional District, held by Dan Boren. Fresh off his toughest race ever, could he be vulnerable, given Oklahoma's increasing red-ness (Democrats still hold a voter registration lead, 49-41)?